


Three Years Beginning at Daylight

by Prisca512



Series: 3Years [1]
Category: Suits (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-05
Updated: 2013-05-05
Packaged: 2017-12-10 10:38:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/785099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prisca512/pseuds/Prisca512
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jessica gave Mike a choice-go to prison alone or she would ruin Harvey's career as well.  He didn't have much choice, now did he?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Three Years Beginning at Daylight

_Dear Harvey_

_Please know I'm doing this for you, I don't want to leave you. You've given me everything, a new life, a new love, a reason to live. But I owe you this. I can't let Jessica ruin everything you've worked so hard to achieve in your life. I owe you so much more than this but this is all I have to offer._

_By the time you read this, I'll be on my way. When the daylight comes, I'll have to go._

_Jessica has me over a barrel, Harvey. It's either turn myself in or she takes you down with me. I can't allow her to do that. I was able to talk them into letting me have one more night with you. I needed the memories to hold on-this is way too hard._

_I tried not to sleep, I held you so close. I prayed for the night to never end._

_I left you a few things. The information you need to stop the merger. I have it summarized for you on my laptop. And look at the non compete contract—I think you'll find it breakable even though Jessica wrote it. I found a little used loophole for you. My one last victory for you if you feel the need to leave Pearson. Don't let Jessica try to hold my transgression over you. I made her sign a non-disclosure and it is air-tight. She can't implicate you in any way without implicating herself so you are free._

_The last thing I want is for you to get hurt by any of this so this is for the best. Thank you for all you've given to me. I don't know where I'd have ended up if I hadn't walked into that interview. Tell Donna goodbye for me._

_You'll be better off on your own again-please take care of yourself._

_I love you--Mike_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun was just peaking through the buildings of Manhattan as Mike walked to the 17th Precinct where he was to meet ADA Haney. He'd made the arrangements yesterday when he bartered for that one last night. He shrugged his jacket closer to himself, the morning was cool-the beginning of October. Walking through the neighborhood, he noticed all the little things he'd missed before: the smile of the newspaper vendor on the corner; the smell of fresh bread from the bakery that Harvey liked to stop at on Sunday mornings; the way Mr & Mrs Rosenblatt held hands when they took their daily early morning walk together. That one hit home, he wouldn't be able to take walks with Harvey anymore.

 

ADA Haney glanced at his watch when he saw Mike Ross round the corner to the Precinct. Right on time. He was skeptical that Mike would show up at all. He hadn't liked giving the guy the extra day to put his affairs in order, but he'd checked out Ross' reputation around the court house. He was shocked when Jessica Pearson had made the accusation that Ross was practicing law without a license—much less having even been to law school. But Ross didn't try to deny any of it. Which led Jim Haney to wonder what Jessica Pearson had on Mike Ross to make him turn himself in. But his days were full enough with cases that he had to work to close so he didn't push on this one. The judge had already signed off on the indictment making this the easiest case to close. Up to 4 years in a minimum security prison is the penalty for practicing law without a license. Mike Ross was hit with three.

 

Mike was thankful processing went quickly. In under an hour of meeting ADA Haney, Mike had been fingerprinted, photographed, divested of what few personal items and clothing he had and was now the owner of an orange jumpsuit waiting for the shuttle to take him to wherever it was he would be spending the next thirty-six months. He had tried to turn off his brain, not listen, not follow conversations about what was happening. But his brain wouldn't shut down. Thank God Grammy wasn't here to see this happening. But the biggest thing that he kept coming back to was Harvey. His last glimpse of a clock showed it was 7:25am. Harvey would have been up for a half hour. He suddenly wished he could run back to Harvey's apartment. To Harvey.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harvey woke up slowly, feeling tired but content. The memories of the night before playing through his mind as he breathed in the scent of Mike from the pillow next to him. Reaching out, he intended to pull his bed partner in close for a few minutes before getting up to shower. Harvey's eyes blinked open as he realized he was alone in bed and the sheets were cold. Mike rarely got up before him preferring to get the most of his sleep. Listening for sounds within the apartment trying to figure out where Mike was Harvey realized it was quiet—Mike is never that quiet. Harvey quickly rolled out of bed with the intention to find Mike. Thinking he'd try the balcony even though it was a bit chilly to sit outside this morning, Harvey noticed Mike's clothes were neatly folded on the chair. He distinctly remembered clothing being thrown off and left where they dropped. Even if Mike had picked up this morning, which he never does, he certainly wouldn't fold them. A small smile formed as he thought maybe, just maybe Mike was still on a high from their lovemaking. Mike had been insatiable last night, almost desperate. Touching, kissing, wanting him in every possible way- it was like he was savoring every part of Harvey, every touch. The balcony was empty. Turning to head towards the kitchen, Harvey noticed Mike's watch on the dresser next to Harvey's watch box. Mike always leaves his watch on the night stand—his habit of checking the time in the middle of the night had woken Harvey so many times that Mike had taken to checking his watch instead of shifting in bed to look at the alarm clock. Shaking his head in confusion, Harvey headed for the kitchen and coffee. One glance into the living room and he knew something was wrong.

 

Mike's laptop was on the coffee table where he'd left it, but it was open and on. There were several sheets of paper on the keyboard but from the bedroom doorway, Harvey couldn't tell what it was. Looking towards the kitchen and seeing it empty, he walked towards the living room with trepidation. His stomach was churning, knowing that something was wrong. Reaching for the sheet of paper as soon as he got close enough, he stopped moving when he read the first words. “Please know I'm doing this for you...” Harvey sat down heavily on the couch as he read the letter that Mike had left for him.

 

Disbelief in what he was reading turned to anger as Harvey finished reading the letter for the second time. Finally turning the other papers in his hand he scanned the non-disclosure that had Jessica's signature and dated the day before. The last sheet was a page of the non-compete clause of every partner's contract at Pearson but had one section highlighted. Mike's distinct handwriting in the margin outlined how the clause could be broken. The one contract Jessica always claimed could not be broken since she was the one to write it – could now be broken. No one had really looked at it before simply believing in Jessica's knowledge of the law. Mike had beaten her the night in Harvey's office when Jessica grilled him and he's beaten her again. “DAMN IT!!”

 

Striding quickly back to the bedroom to find his phone he first dialed Mike's number hoping to catch him before turning himself in. He heard the phone ring from the pile of clothes folded on the chair. Punching the END key on his phone he opened his contact list and dialed Jessica. Harvey was determined to find out where Mike had gone and stop him before it got too far.

 

“Harvey” Jessica sounded as though she was not surprised to hear from the closer this morning. “What can...”

“Save it—where is he?” Harvey was in no mood for pleasantries and almost snarled the words at the woman that helped him get to where he was in life.

A long pause had Harvey about to begin yelling when Jessica finally replied. “It's for the best Harvey. He was a liability to the firm …....and to you.”

“I don't want to hear what you think is best. I just want to hear you tell me who he was meeting this morning and where. NOW”

“It's too late Harvey. He was meeting Jim Haney at the 17th...”

Harvey disconnected the call as soon as Jessica said the 17th knowing that was the 17th Precinct near his neighborhood. Showering quickly and dressing even quicker, Harvey grabbed Mike's watch along with his own before heading out. Ray was waiting for Harvey as he did every morning at this time but could see in Harvey's body language something was off.

“Morning Harvey—where..”

“Ray, I need to get the 17th Precinct as fast has you can get us there. Please”

Ray faltered for only a second upon hearing Harvey say please but quickly shut Harvey's door and got them started on their way knowing that something was seriously wrong. Forgoing his usual cautious driving, Ray had them in front of the Precinct building in only 8minutes, the clock just now showing 7:35am.

“Can you wait for me Ray?” Not waiting for a reply, Harvey jumped out of the car and ran up the steps into the building. Heading straight for the Desk Sergeant on duty he simply stated:

“Mike Ross, I'm his attorney. Where is he?”

The Desk Sergeant was starting to type Mike's name in his search query when ADA Jim Haney walked around the corner. Looking up, Harvey recognized the Assistant District Attorney and stepped in front of the older man.

“Jim”

“Harvey, I didn't expect to see you here this morning. Ross indicated that there would be no one with him.”

“Jim, where is he? I need to see him. This is a mistake.”

“I'm sorry Harvey. He's just been taken to transport. Harvey, this is a done deal.”

“I need to see him. Take me to the transport area, I need to catch him before it's too late.”

“Harvey, it's already too late.”

 

But looking at the expression in Harvey's eyes, Jim Haney turned back towards the way he's just come and motioned for Harvey to follow. Walking quickly down the corridors and down the stairs to the rear of the Precinct, Haney signed them both through the holding area. Harvey scanned all the men that were in the area looking for Mike while Haney spoke to the Officer in charge. Not finding Mike in the few remaining orange clad men in the room, Harvey turned his attention to the conversation Jim Haney was having with the Officer in charge.

“....they are loading that shuttle now. He's outside in que.”

Harvey looked at the door leading outside and tried to make his way outside. He was quickly stopped by Haney and a uniformed officer.

“Sir, you can't go out there, only authorized personnel.”

Turning to the ADA, Harvey tried once more, “Jim, please, I need to see him.”

Searching Harvey's expression, Jim Haney sighed heavily and spoke to the uniformed officer.

“I'll take full responsibility. Escort us both out to the transport. I'll vouch that you'll have no trouble.”

The uniformed officer turned to confirm with the Officer in charge and Haney gave Harvey a stern look.

“I expect no trouble and if he's gone, he's gone. There's nothing more we can do.”

“Thank you.” was all Harvey could manage. The uniformed office escorted Harvey and Haney to the staging area of the parking lot. There was only one shuttle left in the lot and had only two men waiting to board. Harvey quickly recognized Mike as one of the two and called out.

“MIKE!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mike had his head down not looking at anything other than the patterns of the asphalt at his feet. He was trying really hard not to think about what he would normally be doing at this time of day. Walking into the office, trying to get on Donna's good side for the day by offering her a cup of her favorite latte. Negotiating with her to be allowed into Harvey's office, even though they both knew Harvey would just tell them to stop flirting and shove case files into Mike's hands.

“Ross, Michael”

Mike heard his name called and saw the officer motion for him to board the shuttle. Who knew it was so hard to climb stairs with ankles shackled together. Pulling himself into the bus, Mike never heard his name called a second time. He didn't look any farther than where he was directed to sit. Having his hands pulled to the side to be cuffed to the seat he simply stared at the offending hardware and leaned forward to rest his forehead on the seat in front of him.

 

Harvey couldn't believe he was this close. As soon as he called Mike's name he saw the younger man start to climb the steps to the shuttle. Without thinking, Harvey started towards Mike to once again be quickly stopped by the uniformed officer. Knowing it would do no good to argue, Harvey simply stared as Mike boarded the shuttle and sat with his head against the seat in front of him. Harvey was startled from his trance as the shuttle doors closed and the engine started.

“How long?” Harvey turned slightly to Jim Haney, not wanting to tear his eyes away from the last image he had of Mike.

“Three years.”

“Where? Where will he be?”

“Right now he's being taken to the holding facilities at Rikers where he'll be held until being transferred to minimum security upstate. He won't be with hard-core criminals if that helps at all.”

Haney subtly directed Harvey back inside the Precinct and upstairs to where they met.

“You know, I didn't believe Jessica Pearson when she made this accusation including Ross didn't even attend law school. I had checked on his reputation and his bar exam. Highest recorded exam score. But he never denied anything. It makes me wonder, did Jessica Pearson have something on the guy that she was using to blackmail him? To get rid of him? Is he protecting someone?”

“Little late to be asking now, isn't it? But yeah, she had something on him and she wanted to get rid of him.”

Harvey turned to leave but stopped and turned back to the ADA about to say something when his phone began to ring. Seeing DONNA on the display, he hit ignore and walked out towards the waiting car.

Putting his hand in his pocket he realized he had Mike's watch. Stopping as he took the watch out of his pocket, he pulled the pin to stop the battery. A reminder of when these three years started, of how long he would have to wait and how much time he had to build something that Mike could come back to that didn't include Jessica Pearson. And three years he'd use to make Mike realize that what he had to offer was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> This is what popped in my head the first time I heard the song "Daylight" by Maroon 5. I have some thoughts as to what happens next but don't know if I'll get it on "paper". I hope you enjoy this little one shot.


End file.
